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Interior view of the architectural casts gallery, South Kensington Museum ('the Brompton Boilers')

Photograph
c. 1860 (photographed)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleInterior view of the architectural casts gallery, South Kensington Museum ('the Brompton Boilers') (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Albumen print
Brief description
Mounted albumen print, interior view of the architectural casts gallery, c. 1860, South Kensington Museum, ('the Brompton Boilers')
Physical description
An albumen print of an interior view of the South Kensington Museum showing a long corridor with architectural plaster casts. Gas lighting fixtures are suspended from the ceiling.
Dimensions
  • Image height: 24.4cm
  • Image width: 29.6cm
  • Mount height: 29.6cm
  • Mount width: 31.7cm
  • Mount height: 38.0cm
  • Mount width: 53.4cm
Style
Marks and inscriptions
'A.b. London' (classification system label)
Gallery label
(27 November 2018)
Cast Courts Reinstallation, 27 November 2018

8.
'Architectural Museum in the Gallery, South Kensington'
Photographer unknown, 1857-1860

The Royal Architectural Museum's collection was on display at the South Kensington Museum (now the V&A) before the Cast Courts were built. Casts stood next to sculptures and brass rubbings so visitors could compare different elements of architecture. Vast public cast collections like this were the products of powerful industrial nations. International shipping and rail links meant artworks could be copied from around the world in a way that would not have been thought possible before.

REPRODUCED FROM
Albumen print
South Kensington, London
Museum no. 32054
Subjects depicted
Place depicted
Summary
Photographs and photographers were present from the very beginning of the V&A's history and the Museum has an extensive collection of images from the 1850s through to the present which documents the construction and development of the V&A and the South Kensington site.

Originally collected by the National Art Library as part of a programme to record works of art, architecture and design in the interest of public education, these topographic and architectural views were valued as records and as source material for students of architecture and design. As well as being crucial records of the history of the V&A, and an important element within the National Art Library's visual encyclopaedia, these photographs are also significant artefacts in the history of the art of photography.
Collection
Accession number
32054

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Record createdJuly 1, 2009
Record URL
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